“What in the bloody blue blazes is going on?” Cat shouted. “Why are you two in here and why are you screaming like that, you scared me near to death.”

“Hey, sis,……get off of me” Luke groaned, pushing her elbow out of his stomach. “And we were just checking up on you, we got worried when we saw you fall asleep today.” he added as he stood up and brushed himself off, attempting to buy as much time as possible. “I mean, lets face it, when have you ever sat out a dance, much less slept through one.”

“I know” Cat sighed, “I don’t know why I’m so tired lately. I don’t seem to have a fever and outside of sudden exhaustion I’m perfectly fine.”

“Sudden exhaustion” Merlin repeated, “so you don’t always feel tired, it comes and goes.”

“Yes, I can be fine one moment and almost pass out the next. And Luke before you say a word, yes, I know I shouldn’t have taken Harry to Arabia to go shopping. I admit it, it was stupid, I should have flown or had someone go with us….happy?” Cat said, rolling her eyes as her brother grinned at her.

“Happier…” Luke smirked, “but I won’t be happy until we find out why you’re so tired. ……are you ‘sure’ there is nothing you can think of? Maybe we should have Orpha and Tris take a look at you.” he hinted, hoping she would agree.

“If I’m not better in a few days I will, but at this point I really think you’re both over reacting.” she grinned. “And if I keep waking up like this, I’ll never stop being tired. So if you two will kindly find someone else to fret over, I ‘would’ like to get some sleep.”………..

“Greetings Cash, Methuselah of Gangrel, favored son of MacLeod, and best poker player I have ever had the misfortune to bet against.” Desiree smiled as she opened her arms wide to Cash.

“Desiree, Primogen of Caitiff, and other things I would ‘never’ mention above a whisper.” he teased as he hugged her tightly. “Welcome to Hogwarts, I see you’ve brought a good amount of your clan with you.” he added as he turned and nodded “I know them all except this one.”

“This is my childer, my kinder, she is only a few months in the blood” Desiree explained as she motioned to the young, wide-eyed girl to step forward and be presented. “Cash of MacLeod, I present to you my kinder, Saralonde. I trust you will help me train and guide her in the traditions and laws of our kind.”

“As I have always done, so I will continue to do.” Cash responded bowing slightly as Desiree crossed her arm over her chest and bowed deeply to him.

“I am relieved to see the Caitiffs have not abandoned the traditions.” Mohrg said softly, once more cloaking himself in the shadows. He wanted to be part of their meeting and obvious friendship, but the last thing he wanted was to frighten them, and he could all to well imagine what sort of impression he would make on a kinder such as Saralonde.

“Mohrg, my friend, why do you stay to the shadows? Desiree is well aware of you as is her clan. Come forward and be introduced,…..please.” Cash insisted, holding out his hand to the Nosferatu. Slowly Mohrg walked out of the deep shadows, his face looking downward to spare himself the looks of shock and disgust he was sure he would see.

“I am honored to meet you Mohrg of Nosferatu” Desiree spoke, her face a serene mask as she extended her hand in friendship. “I hope to prove worthy of your respect, and of your friendship should I be so fortunate as to gain it.”…….

Rick carefully took the book out of Severus’s hands and pulled up the covers as the wizard slept once more. Poppy’s treatments were doing their work well, the professor was nearly well enough to get out of bed on his own, although Poppy preferred he wait another day before trying.

Kissing Severus softly on the forehead, Rick quietly opened the door to leave, only to be startled by the wizard’s deep voice. “Are you leaving? Is it morning already?”

Rick shook his head and sighed “No Severus, it is no where near morning, its hardly past midnight.” he explained as he walked back to the bed and sat down. “Cash is expecting another clan to join us here tonight, I am expected to be there to greet them with the rest of my clan.”

“More vampire…vampyres?” Sev corrected himself, ‘But why?”

“Thinks are getting much more dangerous than they have been, both Angel and Albus have been having premonitions. Its time to bring in reinforcements.” Rick explained, “And I’m not sure if Cash told you, but the hunter is here. He will start his hunt for the Tremere tonight.”

“Will you be back tonight?” Sev asked, feeling slightly awkward for asking.

“Do you want me to come back?” Rick asked, smiling kindly as his bright blue eyes sparkled.

“Yes, …..I’ve grown …..accustomed to your presence.” Severus sputtered, trying to sound calm, when in truth the thought of being left utterly alone was suddenly a near terrifying thought to him.

“I will be back as soon as I can” Rick assured him “you’ll be safe until then. Gustavas doesn’t dare come near the school with his brother Brutus here. And I’ll charm the door just like Angel and Cash have taught me, only a Celt can get through it.” he added, winking as he stroked Sev’s hair. “If I get back soon enough, we’ll have to see about washing that hair. But until then, get some rest, we can talk when I get back, I promise.”

Sev nodded as he laid back down, pulling the covers up around him. It was such a strange feeling to him to actually miss someone, first Catri and now Rick. Sev wondered if it was because he just never realized how alone he had been before this. After all, there was always the students, teachers, and various other distractions to keep his mind occupied, but over the past day or so it had been simply he and Rick. They had spoken about everything from his love for Catri, to his interest in art, to his feelings on non-humans. Nothing seemed out of bounds as far as their discussions went, and he had to admit it was comforting to know someone was there, watching over him. Severus drifted back off to sleep, reflecting on how wonderful it felt to feel truly safe for the first time in his entire life……..

Cat awoke early the next morning to the sound of someone pounding on her door. “For the love of……its hardly even dawn yet.” she groused as she covered her head with her pillow, hoping whoever it was would go away. Hearing a familiar voice, she realized quickly he wasn’t going to go away until she opened the door. Sighing deeply, Cat got out of bed and shuffled exhaustedly to the door. “Sirius Black, this had better be good.” she yawned.

Sirius had been prepared to ask her straight away if she was pregnant, if she was carrying Snape’s child in her womb, but one look at her sleepy eyes and tussled hair stole all resolve from him. “Cat, please, I need to talk to you, it’s very important.”

“Is someone hurt? Bleeding? Blown up?” Cat asked, seeing Sirius shake his head she replied, “then it can wait until a decent hour.”

“Gra, please….I’m worried about you. Luke, Remus and I have been up most of the night because of this. We’re… I mean….it’s just….” Sirius tried to find the words to ask her without sounding accusing or demanding. “Cat, when you fell asleep this afternoon, it just isn’t like you to do that when you could be dancing. I’m afraid something else is going on…..”

“Something else? Sirius what are you going on about.” Cat sighed as she walked away from her open door and headed back towards her bed. “And whatever it is, can’t it wait until the sun is up?”

Sirius couldn’t help but smile as Cat yawned once more and sank sleepily back onto her bed, draping herself over the raised wooden foot of her bed, resting her head as she tried to stay awake. “No gra, it can’t. I’m worried about you. I’m afraid something is going on and you aren’t able to tell me.” he said softly as he knelt next to her, gently placing his hand on her lap while she smiled sleepily at him. “Talk to me gra, tell me what’s happening, why are you so tired, why is everyone so worried about you?”

Cat laughed softly, “My clan always worry about me, its some sort of national pass time or something.” she teased as she played with his hair, twirling it around her fingers and staring deeply into Sirius’s blue eyes. “Faith, but I’ve missed you Siri, please don’t ever go away again.”

Sirius grinned from ear to ear “I won’t ever leave you Cat, I promise….although if you’ll try to wake up and think about it, I’m fairly certain ‘you’re’ the one who went away.” he teased as he sat on her bed and pulled her against his chest. “I love you so much Cat, I don’t ever want to lose you again. I wish you could marry me right now.” he whispered as he placed his hand on her abdomen, wondering if there was a life growing within her. He sighed as he felt her nuzzling against him, she had to stay with him she could never make him believe she loved Snape not after the past two days.

“Talk to me Cat, why are you so tired? Is there anything I should know about? Anything at all?” he waited a few minutes for her to reply, hoping she would take the opportunity to confess everything to him. After an uncomfortably long silence, he looked down at her knowing she could never hide her emotions from him, he seemed confused for a moment until he realized she was sleeping soundly against his chest. Laughing deeply, Sirius smirked as she startled awake at the sound of his laughter.

Cat felt her eyes growing heavy as Sirius’s warmth wrapped itself around her, caressing her with memories from half her life ago. She had loved him so dearly, he had been everything to her back then she could never have imagined her life without him in it. Nuzzling against his chest, Cat breathed deeply as his scent filled her senses, making her dizzy and filling her with desire. Trying not to encourage him too much, Cat tried to focus on his breathing, the rise and fall of his chest, it seemed to be working, at least until the world around her began shaking.

Startling awake, Cat realized it wasn’t the world shaking, it was simply Sirius laughing at her. She rolled her eyes as he reminded her it wasn’t the first time she had fallen asleep in his arms in the past few weeks. “Alright, laugh it up Sirius. It’s not my fault you’re so comfortable to sleep on, and if you and my clan are so worried about me falling asleep all the time, then stop waking me up at all hours of the night.” she complained. “You do what you want to, but I’m going back to sleep.”

“That sounds like a good idea” Sirius agreed as he easily lifted her in his arms and placed her down on the bed. “I want you to get some rest Cat, I worry about you. And I don’t want Harry to become concerned if he doesn’t need to. As it is I worry enough for both of us.” he added, yawning widely as he stretched.

“You look like you could use some rest too, did Luke wake you up to talk to you or something?” Cat asked as she got comfortable once more.

“Wake me up? Gra, I haven’t been to sleep yet. We’ve been talking all night, everyone is worried about you.” he winked, “in fact some rather interesting rumors have been going around regarding it.”

“Oh, ghee, let me guess, a certain Mr. Black is keeping me up all night?” she teased throwing a pillow at him and giggling as it hit him in the face.

“Think that’s funny do you?” he asked as he caught the pillow and held it menacingly. “I hope you know this means war…” he grinned as he held the pillow over her, laughing as she tried to hide underneath the quilts. “Oh no you don’t MacLeod” he laughed as he pulled down the covers and began hitting her with the pillow, only to have the blows returned as she quickly grabbed another pillow and defended herself.

After a few minutes of laughter and battling, both Cat and Sirius dropped onto her bed, exhausted and smiling as they panted. “You should get some sleep too Siri” Cat said softly as she rubbed her hand over his back, enjoying the feel of his muscles underneath the cotton shirt. “If a little pillow fight has us both winded, we’re in sad shape.” she sighed as she moved to get under her covers once more. “It must be close to five now, the boys will be looking for you in an hour or so.”

“Let them look” Sirius groaned as he sat up and looked at Cat, feeling an overwhelming need to hold her rise within him. Kicking off his shoes, Sirius crawled into bed next to Cat.

“Sirius!!! What are you doing?” Cat gasped as she felt his arms reaching out for her. “You can… ‘I’ can’t ….”

Sirius felt and heard her struggle as he wrapped his arms around her, “Hush gra, I just want to hold you. I miss this, I miss hearing your heart, I even miss hearing you sing in your sleep.” he added as he kissed her forehead.

“But Sirius, if my brothers find you here, or even worse, one of the women, …they’ll probably force you to marry me for fear you’ve done something you haven’t done.” she insisted, squirming to get away as Sirius kissed her neck.

“Something I haven’t done…yet…” he corrected her. “and trust me, it wouldn’t take much forcing to get me to marry you, at least not on my part.” He explained as he pulled her against his chest, hoping she would relax and fall back asleep. “Tell me gra, how much would it take to convince you to marry me? Is it even a possibility, knowing everything you do now, knowing I have nothing to offer you, would you be happy married to me?”

“Sirius, I told you before your wealth and position never meant a thing to me and I meant it.” Cat sighed as she nuzzled against his chest, torn between wanting to comfort him and knowing how badly this would look should someone walk in on them like this. “And as for the question of marriage…..you know in the end its really not up to me. In the end it will be decided by my Clan and the Crones.”

“I know gra, but supposing it was, would you be content to be my wife? Would you still be able to love me the way you used to?” Sirius asked again, needing to hear her answer, no matter what it may be. “Your Clan seems to like me well enough, and I’m sure I can win over the Crones. So if they gave you a choice between me and….oh…let’s say Remus, who would you choose?”

Cat rolled her eyes as she tried to stifle a yawn. “Sirius Black, I sincerely hope you are NOT suddenly becoming jealous of my friendship with Remus. And to answer you’re question, you know full well Remus has no intentions of every marrying or becoming a father, so as long as that is the case, neither my Clan nor the Crones would ever consider him.” she explained. “Now if you are going to insist on staying in my bedroom with me, pretending to try and help me sleep, at least stop talking.”

“What do you mean ‘pretending’ to help you sleep?” Siri grinned, “You yourself told me not ten minutes ago I was very comfortable to sleep on,…. I’m only trying to help after all.” he pouted, doing his best to look wounded at her comment. Seeing her holding in her laughter, he squeezed her tightly before continuing. “So, you haven’t answered my question Cat, who would ‘you’ pick?”

“If I say you, will you be quiet and let me sleep?” she sighed, knowing all to well were this was leading.

“Only if you really mean it gra,” Siri whispered as he carefully rolled onto his side, pinning Cat as his hand gently stroked her cheek. “As much as I want the answer to be me, I need to hear the truth more.” he insisted as he stared into her deep green eyes. “Tell me Cat, would you choose me, or would you choose someone else?”

Seeing her turn her eyes away from him as if trying to think of a reply, he immediately took her face in his hand and turned her back to look at him. “I need to know gra. Remember earlier, when you told me you couldn’t bear to lose me again, you couldn’t go through that heartbreak again. ….Neither can I.” he whispered as he saw the tears forming in her eyes……..

“Yes Merlin, I know, I have heard the talk as well as you have.” Orpha sighed as she tried to calm him down. He had nearly frightened her to death when he had come bursting into her bedroom in a whirl of wind and flames.

“How could this have happened?!” Merlin asked, throwing his hands toward the heavens, “She loves ‘him’, anyone with eyes in their head could see that. And he obviously loves her, he’s hardly taken his eyes off of her, and their son has made no secret about wanting them to be together as a family.”

“I know my dear, I know.” Orpha sighed “You aren’t telling me anything I don’t already know. In fact right now the only thing I am unsure of, is the state of her health. She may be with child, she may be sick, or she may simply be exhausted. I haven’t had the chance to examine her yet.”

“What are you waiting for woman?!” Merlin roared, his eyes wide with surprised, “Go get her and find out now.”

Throwing a small book through him, Orpha finally succeeded in gaining his undivided attention. “Would you listen to yourself, honestly….go find her and tell me now. What do you think I’m going to do, march up there and have her….no, I won’t even say it.” she stated as she straightened the quilts on her bed.

“I am going back to sleep Merlin, she intends to visit a wizarding family tomorrow. I believe Sirius is staying behind, I’ll talk to him then, and I’ll take care of her tomorrow afternoon when she returns.” Orpha insisted, “Until then, it won’t do anyone any good to worry about it, if she is then she will be and we will have another child to add to our joys. If she is not, then unless she and Sirius become closer, it is rather a moot point.”…..

Sirius groaned as he returned her kisses, it was so hard to control himself at moments like this, he should have proposed to her when he had the chance. He could have kicked himself when he thought back to that day, he even had his grandmother’s engagement ring in his pocket, he knew he loved her and he never had any doubt that she loved him. So why did he develop cold feet at the last moment, what had possessed him to tell that he needed ‘space’ instead of getting on bended knee and begging her to marry him as he had intended to do. “Catrianna” he sighed as he rolled onto his back, pulling her along so she was now on top of him.

“We need to stop, don’t we?” Cat replied breathlessly as she brushed his hair away from his face. She gasped as she felt his hips rise, pushing his manhood against her most secret of places. She returned his moan as she tried to stop her hips from pushing against him, instead she pressed her lips against his neck sucking his skin as his hands grabbed her bum, squeezing it gently.

“Not if you don’t want to, but I want you to be sure gra, absolutely one hundred percent sure. Because once we do, I swear I will never let you out of my arms again, and I will die before I allow you to be with anyone else, Clan and Crones be damned.” Siri insisted, pulling her lips to meet his once again. “I love you Catrianna, you and no one else. I want to be your husband, I want to be the father of your children, I want us to be a family.”

“You really love children, don’t you?” Cat replied softly, “My entire clan is chattering about the way you hover around the babies. In fact a few of them have been very impressed at how well you handle yourself, not to mention the fact that Edana is very much taken with you.”

Sirius smiled as soon as she mentioned Edana. “She is simply amazing, I still can’t believe everything my…that poor little girl has been through.” he sighed. Noticing Cat’s grin, he rolled his eyes, “Yes gra, I realized she is not MY little girl, she’s Paddy’s, but I’ve been made an honorary uncle.” he grinned, “Paddy’s been calling me her uncle almost since the day he arrived.” he added proudly.

“So I’ve noticed.” Cat responded as she rolled off of Sirius and once more snuggled under the covers as she yawned widely. “Tell me something Sirius Black, and you have to swear to tell me the honest truth, or at least your honest feelings on the matter.” Cat said sleepily as she placed her head on his chest, “Would you be able to accept another man’s child as your own? And I don’t mean as a step child or whatever they call them in your world. I mean would you be able to simply say “this is my child” and mean it in your heart and soul?”

Sirius paused as he thought over the implications of her question, did this mean she was carrying Snape’s child, or was it simply another Clan tradition. “Well gra, I already do that with Harry. Although in the wizarding world I am reminded time and time again that he is my ‘godson’ and not my own flesh and blood.” he replied, “So I would have to answer yes. I could accept another man’s child as my own, especially if I became the father when the child was a baby.” he grinned as he squeezed her tightly, “Up until a few days ago, I never realized how much I missed holding babies. I don’t even mind changing diapers, I got a lot of practice with Harry.” he winked as he heard Cat laughing softly against his chest. “Is there anything else you wanted to ask or tell me gra?”

“Nothing that can’t wait until morning Siri” she replied softly, not even bothering to hide the yawn this time…….

Orpha quietly opened Kitty’s door, it was well past eight and no one had heard a sound from her. And after Luke explained to her the way the discussion between he, Remus and Sirius went, Orpha was very concerned that Sirius may have left the hollow, or perhaps done something even more drastic. “Poor boy” she sighed “I know how much you love her, we all do. I simply hope this news hasn’t driven you away from her or from us……well, what do we have here?” she gasped softly as she noticed two forms sleeping in Kitty’s bed.

Orpha’s look of shock immediately turned into one of satisfaction and relief. “Well that answers the question of what happened to the wizard,” she sighed as she gazed at Kitty and Sirius, deep asleep in each others arms. Silently she moved to them and very gently lifted a corner of the quilt, seeing Kitty’s nightgown and Sirius’s denim jeans, she sighed almost inaudibly. “Well so much for that opportunity.” she groused, although she couldn’t help but smile at the tender way Sirius was treating her little girl. Even in his less than perfect state of health, she realized how easily he could have over come Kitty with his brawn and his magic, but she knew he would never even consider such a thing. He wanted her heart more than he wanted anything else, it was obvious in every look and every touch between them. Add to that the fact that he had been told about Kitty’s suspected pregnancy and knew he could not possibly be the father, yet here he was, holding her in his arms as they slept. They had probably fallen asleep talking about the future Orpha thought as she gently ran her hand over Sirius’s eyelids.

Watching the wizard shift uncomfortably in his sleep, Orpha repeated the motion, causing Sirius to wake from his slumber and blink sleepily at her. “Well good morning sunshine” she stated, grinning widely. “Sleep well did you?”

“Aunt Orpha?” Sirius questioned, seemingly confused “What are you doing in my room? Where are Paddy and Remus?” he yawned as he tried to sit up, only to feel a weight on his chest. Staring down, all of last night came back to him, Luke and Remus escorting him away and sharing their concerns with him, his finally convincing them he needed to take a walk and be alone, only to find himself standing outside of Cat’s door. He smirked as he recalled the way his determination had left him the moment she answered her door, sleepy and vulnerable and oh so enticing to him. “Am I in a world of trouble Aunt Orpha?” he asked quietly as he stroked her soft hair, half hoping she would wake up.

“No, I don’t think so. “ Orpha replied, smiling kindly at him “It’s obvious you haven’t done anything to her. Although I would NOT let Duncan find you like this if you value your life.” she added, winking playfully. “So, Luke told me about last night, has she said anything to you one way or another?”

“No, not about that,” Sirius whispered, “but we spoke about a lot of other things.” he explained as a large smile slowly spread across his face. “I want to marry her Orpha, I want to be a father to her children, Harry and any others that come along.”

“Really? Even knowing what you do?” Orpha asked, “You still want her to be your wife, to have a family with her?”

“Yes. A large, close knit, happy family.” Sirius replied, eyes still focused on Cat. “It doesn’t matter to me if she is or not, as far as I’m concerned I will be the father. Besides, as it is most of the clan is probably assuming I am anyway.” he added, smiling brightly at her.

He seemed surprised when Orpha flung her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. “I was so hoping you would say that.” she beamed, only to grimace as Cat half woke up and looked at her.

“More company? Lugh’s beard, save me from my clan.” she sighed as she rolled over and pulled the covers around her head, blocking out the light and conversation.

“Hhmmm, she really is tired.” Orpha sighed, “She didn’t even wake up enough to be embarrassed or try to explain what was going on.”

“I know, she’s been out like a light since early this morning” Siri yawned, “but I guess I should get up, I’m used to not getting much sleep.”

“You didn’t get much sleep? But why? Did something happen that I should know about?” Orpha asked immediately concerned.

“No, just Remus, Luke and I talking to all hours,” Siri explained, “I’ve only been asleep since around dawn myself.”

“Well then by all means go back to sleep,” Orpha insisted, “Besides, the more time you spend together the easier her decision will be. Sirius? You do realize I will have to meet this other man, the teacher and ‘evaluate’ him and his qualifications don’t you.” she said gently, not wanting to upset him.

Sirius nodded, “I know, but once you meet him, I feel rather certain I’ll be the Clan favorite” he winked, “Snape is not the most social of creatures, in fact he’s positively beastly at times, just ask Harry how Snape treats him.” he added, a bitter edge rising to his voice.

“Calm down dear boy, take her in your arms and sleep, you both need rest.”

Nodding as he yawned again, Sirius turned on his side and wrapped his arms around an already sleeping Cat. Pulling her tightly against his chest, he quickly drifted off to sleep as he dreamed about a future together, complete with children, a home, and a great deal of love………